Fuzzy by Tom Angleberger

The Hook: 

There’s a new student at school and well…. he’s a robot named Fuzzy.  He’s part of the Vanguard Middle School’s new program called “Robot Integration.”  Fuzzy’s new best friend, a human named Max—short for Maxine—helps Fuzzy learn everything there is to know about how to survive middle school—the good and the bad.  However, they do not realize surviving 7th grade is a matter of life and death for Fuzzy because Vanguard has been overthrown by an evil computer program called BARBARA. 

Yes, BARBARA, which ironically is your Lomax librarian’s first name (me), but I promise I am not evil (or am I?) 

BARBARA is a computer program that evaluates all the students at the school.  Its goal is to shape the perfect student.  But BARBARA takes things to the extreme! 

Can Fuzzy and Max save the day?  You’ll have to read the book to find out. 

This book is in our library.  It is also in Sora as an ebook.  It is 5 AR points. 

My Thoughts and Recommendations (Careful! There Could Be Spoilers): 

This book is written by Tom Angleberger who also wrote the Origami Yoda series. So if your student likes those books, he/she may like this one too (and vice versa).  

I love that our hero is a strong, female character who stands up for her friends and what is right and wrong. She shows compassion for her friend Fuzzy and you know she will never let him down.

This book is hilarious and fun. Who wouldn’t want to have a robot friend? The evil “principal” who oddly is never seen (that’s the first hint to their identity) is actually a computer program ready to overtake the world! This is so timely with all talk about the dangers of AI these days.

Fuzzy is 288 pages but it is a real page turner so that 288 pages will go quick.! The kids at Lomax love this book. Great fun! I recommend this book for 4th-6th grades. 4.6 stars.